China beefs up cyber police force

BEIJING — A total of 139 official online accounts have been created for provincial or city-level police to aid anti-cyber crime work, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Aug 12.

Tasked with Internet inspection, a mission long clouded in obscurity, the accounts, which are on popular forums and social networking services including Weibo and WeChat, are part of a campaign to better communicate with users and ensure online security.

Working 24/7, the cyber police teams are obligated to sniff out illegal and harmful information on the Internet, prevent cyber crimes and improper words and deeds online, as well as publish case reports and handle tipoffs.

The first collection of 50 accounts publicized on June 1 were based in metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai as well as small, impoverished cities.

Figures from the ministry showed that the cyber police have so far deleted some 200,000 pieces of harmful information, given warnings to more than 10,000 users for problematic words and acts, and accepted 2,000 public tipoffs on possible crimes.